The Difficult Details of Health Care Reform

If the devil is in the details, this promises to be a devilish summer for advocates of health care reform. After the preliminary rhetoric, Senate and House committees, along with the White House, are deep into the nitty-gritty of lawmaking.

AARP’s priority is Medicare­—narrowing the so-called doughnut hole and creating a new “transitional benefit” to provide care and support for Medicare recipients returning home after a hospital stay. “Millions of Americans are suffering needlessly each year because of a broken health care system that leaves them without the care and support they need after a hospital stay,” said AARP executive vice president Nancy LeaMond. AARP endorsed a bill introduced by Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Charles Boustany, R-La., that aims to prevent hospital readmissions by providing coordinated follow-up care. President Obama has publicly acknowledged AARP’s efforts.

In addition, during the summer recess, AARP volunteers have met with federal lawmakers from all 50 states to urge that uninsured people ages 50 to 64 be allowed to enroll in Medicare.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Sens. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, lead the Senate negotiations; Reps. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., George Miller, D-Calif., and Henry Waxman, D-Calif., lead the House effort. They hope to enact health care reforms this year.